The New Hampshire Volunteer Lake Assessment
Program (NHVLAP), initiated in 1985, serves a dual purpose by establishing a regular
volunteer-driven water sampling program to assist DES (Department of
Environmental Services) in evaluating water quality throughout the state, and
the program empowers volunteer monitors and lake residents with information
about the health of their waterbody.

Regular gathering of water quality data from the lake and the streams that enter
it builds a strong set of baseline data. Such monitoring results in early
detection of water quality changes, allowing DES to trace potential problems to
their source. If the data gathered in VLAP reveals that there is a water
quality problem in a particular waterbody, the data may be used to justify the
need for the implementation of a more intensive watershed study through the N.H.
Clean Lakes Program, the Federal Clean Lakes Program, or the Non-Point Source
Local Watershed Initiative Grants Program.

The volunteer monitors of VLAP are invaluable to
the state of New Hampshire for collecting data that are used to determine
long-term trends and for educating their neighbors on keeping the waters clean.
They have been, and will continue to be, a key element in protecting the
integrity of New Hampshire's lakes. - Excerpt from NHDES, Watershed Management Bureau, VLAP

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